Knitting machine



Aug. 20, 1935. J. MEYER 2,012,246

' KNITTING-MACHINE Filed Oct. 51, 1934 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVELVTOR.

JOSEPH MEYER,

A TTORNEY.

Aug. 20, 1935. J. MEYER KNITTING MACHINE Filed Oct. '51, 954

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. 1054:1 14 ,MEYEQ, BY LAM 2/ ATTORNEY.

Patented Aug.

U TED} TA ES {PATENT FFEE I 1 it 323012246 v KNITTINGM CnINE" V a a Joseph Meyer, New'York, Y. I H v Application October 31, 1934,: Serial No.- 750,776

lhis ipvention relates to knittingfmachinespl Special objects of the invention are to provide a machine capable of producing a greater variety of'patterns than was formerly possible, which willautomatic ally change patterns and which, in form, is relatively simple and compact;

.' Other desirable objects and the novel features of construction, 'Jcombinations and relations of parts by which the same are attained will appear from the following specification, read in connec tion with the accompanying drawings in which:

0 Fig. 1 is a fragmentary elevational view; of a knitting machine, showing certain elements of the invention.

,Fig. 2 is aside View. of the elements of the 'inventionwhich actuate those shown Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a right end vi'ew of' the rod, or bar arrangement, showing the movable headpiece -4 and the arm that actuates it. 7

, j "Figg is a fragmentary plan view, diagrammatic in part, of the bar, pin andlink arrange ment.

Figsffiand represent elevational and side invention. a Figs, 7 ':and 8 represent:elevational'and side views, respectively, of a further modification of the invention. e c vReferring to the drawings tare the rodsor bars carrying thethr'ead tubes 2. "Ihesebars views respectivelyof another embodiment of the e v Y of the driveshaft, there is a single'complete passagei of any point on the knuckle'chain through are slidably mounted with respectto frame} and guides 4 and slidevaxially to change, laterally the positiorrof the thread tubes 2. Patternlinks 5 form an endless chain whi-ch is caused to revolve about axle 6 -by teet h Tfpositioned on the axle and. rotatingtherewith." 'The teeth I, 'coact with end pieces 8 of the pattern links, whereby -the linksv are advanced. ri'xle'fi is suitably driven, as by the cooperation of a -:grab-hook (not shown) with the wheel-9i Mounted on the patternlinks 5 are pins 10 their arrangement and protrudingflengths being varied for different pattern designs. a

. its is' well known in the art, the axle caused to oscillate by suitable-means subst'antially heriz ontally through a fixed displacement toward and away fromthe frame 3 at'the same elevation as'that'of the -bars I. Pins *lU lying 'in a horizontal plane-between the; axle-'fi-and the operating-heads lloffthe-bars I, willcoactwith the operating heads-H to *slide'the bars I to a position determined by the amplitude of the horizontal oscillation and'the length of-ithe pin. When, of courseft-he pin is too'short' to reach the head ii of; any particular bar-1 ,01 when there is no pin' -in the linkin position to' cqa ct with that barythat :bar {will remainstationary until acted upon by a pin of sufiicient length in another'patternlink.

It is this coaction'between pin and bar, result- 7 'g. a l 4Claims. (ores-126) A ing in motion of the bar, which, in knitting ma chines, controls the design. Change; in design are jeeifected by changing theilengths of thepins it and/or their positions, inthe'links 5, Ob-

jviously, howeven it would be impractical to stop 7 a the machine and reset the pins to effect a change of pattern in the course of knitting a length of product embracing different designs 7 There'- fore, it is desirable to have automatic means for. i the changing of patterns; which means willutilize as fully as possible the available pin'se'ttings on any machine to producea variety ofdesign.

'Applicants invention is designed to provide such means, and makes possiblea'greater variety. of

patterns thanhas heretofore been available,* the changes in design .beingeffected quickly, easily result by varying; in effect, the effective length of therbars," 1

less chain revolved by sprocket i3 which; through reducing mechanism'designated generallyjas l4,

' is actuated by the drive shaft of the. machine.

Thusyfor a predeterminedinumber of revolutions its, orbit. .Suitably-mounted to a stationary part t par n, slotted t-hrough'a 'portion'of its length.

' Through the slot #8 extends the pin l9 Which'is fixed tocthe bar l i at a point substantially oppQ- sitethe axis of sprocket l3. Roller is ,'car-' I ri'ed bypin l9 and'is free to rotate about it. -The endnf bar'lliopp'osite the'pivot It is connected through pivot Z! to a rod 22 of adjustable length iwhich in turn, is connected through/adjustable, rcollar'and stud23 to rod 2e: The-endof rod 24 opposite the collar and stud T23 is isuitably Tconnected toeajoollarzfi which is keyed or otherwise suitably fastened to'shaft26, so that motion of the collarv 25; about its a'xis will causecorre spending angular rotation'of the shaft 26. One end of the spring 2! is connected; to therod-struc and automatically; Applicantl'accomplishesthis ture at pivot 2i, and the *otherend to a com venientpoint-"on thefra'me 3 nea1j thes'h'af-t-26,

or, to "the; shaft 26 itself in such away as to not prevent its rotation, as by' means of a loose cola lar; Spring z'lfisfsubstantially perpendicular to shaft 25 and tendsto draw the pivot '21- toward T the shaft 25.1 Spring 21 holds the .roller 20 in contact with knuckles [2 at all times". Therefore; as the height of 1knuck1es'I2 is increased, the roller ZE -is forced-further away from the axis o-f the 'sprocket l3,-'and so causes rotation "of the'bar about the pivot [6; i Thischange in position of bar' H is-t-ransmitted through-bars 2'2 and E l-and collar. 25 and causes counter-.

clockwise rotation of shaft 26, as seen in Fig. 2.

' Knuckles l2,of varying height, forman enda When the height of knuckles I 2 is reduced to their former value, spring 27 operates to restore-bar I! to its former position and to so return shaft 26 to its former position,-rotation now being in the opposite direction,or clockwise.

It will be seen, therefore, that by appropriate design, it is possible to completely control the direction and extent of rotation of shaft 26, and

the times at which rotation occurs.

At the end of shaft 25 is mounted operatingarm 28, suitably fastened so that rotation of the shaft 23 will cause corresponding co-axial rotation of the arm 23. Extending perpendicularly from the free end of the operating arm 28, and

parallel to the shaft 2 5, is the operating pin 29.-

lateral motion of the pin 29 will cause a rotation of the headpiece 3i about the pin'30, as indicated in Fig. 3, and will so cause the lower end of headpiece 3! to be either in or out of a position between the pin it and the point or head H where pin It would meet it.- When headpiece 3i is in that position, of course, an impulse given it by pin IQ is transmitted directly to head II and bar I. The pin I!) takes the same position whetheror not headpiece 3| is immediately in front of it, but when headpiece 3| is immediately between pin I and head II, bar I is pushed further over than when headpiece3| is not in that position. The function of headpiece 3i, therefore, is to increase the effective length of the in II]. r v

p In operation, the pin ID and head II may for a time contact directly. At a predetermined time, regulated by the reducing mechanism and the knuckle sizes, the headpiece 3| falls into position'between head II and pin IB and has the effect of causing a greater lateral motion of bar I for the same setting of pin Ill. Conversely, if normal operation calls for the presence of headpiece 3| in position between pin. I0 and head II, then, at a predetermined time, it'may be thrown out of position. This would reduce the lateral .mOtiOn of bar I for a given length of pin iii, andmight even cause the pin I6 and head I! to be entirely outof contact, as indicated in Fig. 4. I

Thus far, this description hasbeenconcerned with a single bar I, its head l I, and pins I0, but as appears from Fig. 4, it. is possible to efiect coaction between the head row or rows or" pins: Ilia. by motion of the headpiece 3I. The headpiece 3| being hung on the pin 39 of head II, motion of the headpiece 3| in a direction; parallel to the axis of bar I will be transmitted to head regardless of the rotation of headpiece 3| about pin 30. Thus in Fig. 4 as shown, by swinging headpieceti into a position in the line of travel of pin iiia, the motion of bar [is controlled by pin Ida rather than by pin I6. When. pins I5 and Illa are ofdifferent lengths, the change of control from one to the other thus efiects a change of travel'of bar I, and thus, of design, conveniently and automati cally, without changing the pin settings. Of course, pin lila can be no shorter than pin I0 than by the thickness of headpiece 3|, or pin .10 would still control. It will thus be seen that II and any other end of said bar.

the invention provides for not only different motions of a bar for given settings of a row of pins. but also for control of the motion of any single bar by any of a plurality of rows of pins. Maniiestly, eac bar of the machine may besimilarly controlled. I Y A Figs.- 5 and'6 show a modification of the invention in which the headpiece "is slidably mounted. Atthe upper end of head I I, and extending therefrom at right angles to the line of motion of bar I, is the cross piece 33. Channel 34 running lengthwisein the cross-piece 33 receives the key 35-,atta'ched to the headpiece 36. As the operating arm 28 revolves, the operating pin 29 inslot 36 of the headpiece 36, causes the headpiece36 to assume different positions along the channel. Thus, headpiece 36-may be 'between pin It and head II; it maybe in position to' be acted upon by pinv Ina; or it.may be so located that it is touched by none of the pins, as by being. halfway between the two former positions.

Figs. '1 and 8 show a'further modification of the invention, in which the headpiece is designed to make available diiferenteffective thicknesses otheadpiece. As illustrated, two pins 31, one above the other, extendv from the head The lower portion of headpiece 38'consists of. a series of sections 38a, 38b and 380, of differentthick nesses. The upper portion of the headpiece-38 contains the slot 39. The pin 40, formedat the top of headpiece 38 is fitted through the slot 4| of theoperating arm 42. As the arm 42 is revolved, headpiece 38 is raised or lowered vertically, guided bypins 3'|,'thus positioning one of the sections 38a, 381),, or 380 between the pin ID and the head The different thicknesses of headpiece cause different positioning of the bar I, and so result in difierentpattern effects.

While only particular'forins of"the"invention havebeen described in detailin this specification, it wi ll be apparent to those skilled in the art that the invention'is not so limited, but .that various other forms of the invention may be embraced within the spirit thereof and within the scope of the. appended Claims.

Iclaimr A 1. In a knitting ,machine, abar, a pin, a headpiece, means for positioning said headpiece between-said pin and. said bar at predetermined intervals and means for pushing said pin against said headpiece at said intervals and against said barduring other intervals. i

' 2; Ina knitting machine a bar, a pin,a headpiece, automatic ;means for positioning said headpiece at the end of said bar at predetermined times, meansior'moving said pin through a fixed distance against said headpiece at said predetermined times andagainstthe end of said barat other, times.

3. In a knitting machine, a bar, a pin, a headpiece comprising a plurality of sections of different thickness, meansfor positioning difierent of said headpiece sections at the end of saidbar at predetermined times, and means; for pushing said pin against the headpiece sectionat the -11. In a-knitting machine, a bar, an adjustable headpiece,- a plurality of rows of pins, means for moving'said pins, and means for placing said headpiece iniposition to be impelled by pins of different rows at predeterminedtimes.

' JOSElI-I MEYER. 

